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In September 1925, Dr. Ossian Sweet and ten other defendants were tried in Detroit, charged with murder while protecting the Sweet home from a riotous mob. Dr. Sweet and his family had just moved into their newly purchased home in a white neighborhood. The NAACP retained Clarence Darrow as chief attorney. The first trial ended in a hung jury.  The second trial resulted in the acquittal of Ossian’s brother, Henry Sweet, against whom the State felt it had the strongest case. All the other cases were dropped. The NAACP used the victory to advance the legal assault against residential segregation.
In September 1925, Dr. Ossian Sweet and ten other defendants were tried in Detroit, charged with murder while protecting the Sweet home from a riotous mob. Dr. Sweet and his family had just moved into their newly purchased home in a white neighborhood. The NAACP retained Clarence Darrow as chief attorney. The first trial ended in a hung jury.  The second trial resulted in the acquittal of Ossian’s brother, Henry Sweet, against whom the State felt it had the strongest case. All the other cases were dropped. The NAACP used the victory to advance the legal assault against residential segregation.